


It's Just The Gates

by YellowShapedBox



Category: Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Genre: Filk, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-04
Updated: 2014-08-04
Packaged: 2018-02-11 18:44:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2079048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YellowShapedBox/pseuds/YellowShapedBox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She was the consummate Blade; he was the impeccable bureaucrat. She rushed headlong toward every goal; his responsibilities were an unending juggling act. Both were too paranoid for their own good.</p><p>In short, the Hero of Kvatch and Chancellor Ocato did not get on, and frankly it was all the Hero's fault.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's Just The Gates

Tune: “Now/It's Just The Gas” from Little Shop of Horrors

[VIENNE, Hero of Kvatch, plods into the corridor of the Imperial palace with a distinct air of futility. She catches sight of OCATO. On her surprised exclamation, OCATO immediately begins to bustle back to his secure chamber; VIENNE runs full-tilt after him with Jearl's Orders in her fist.]

VIENNE [grabbing him by the shoulder]: Now! Hear me now!  
I speak for the Septim, no longer a rumor:  
The men in red robes have their eye upon Bruma,  
Which stands in the path of the temple where he now resides!  


OCATO: If you could repeat-- 

VIENNE: Now! Help us now!  
A Great Gate will open, the city to slaughter,  
The Blades of the Temple, and Martin soon after –  
Where then shall we run, how can we outlast Lord Dagon's tide?  


OCATO: What exactly is it that you-- 

VIENNE: Now, for the realm!  
Now, for the heir!  
Now, send your men--

OCATO [spoken]: None to spare.

VIENNE [spoken]: Could I – could I address myself to the full Council on the matter?

OCATO: Truth be told, most of the Council has returned to the provinces to deal with urgent local matters, but we are in regular communication. But the Inner Council still holds regular meetings, and we have the situation well in hand until a new heir can be found.

VIENNE: Until-- [She takes a deep breath.] All right. When may I speak to the Inner Council?

OCATO: No matter. I assure you, they will adhere to my judgment. Under normal circumstances, I couldn't hesitate to grant your request, but you must understand these aren't normal circumstances. The generals assure me the Imperial Legion is fully tied down in the provinces, and if I tried to buck the generals, I would have a full-scale political crisis on my hands!

VIENNE: Political...?

OCATO [sung]: I acknowledge your prestige, but cannot aid you in the siege  
Against the Gates--  
We're stretched too thin--  
With the Legion in the provinces, the Guards must serve within,  
Traven's fighting necromancers  
And the Fighters' College answers –  
Well, our burdens are all more than fully laid.

VIENNE [who has been examining a battered Special Edition of the Black Horse Courier throughout Ocato's explanation]: And you speak for every faction but the Blades!

[soliloquy]: What can I see but a cowardly ambition?  
If we can't get reinforcements, Martin doesn't have a prayer.  
Deep regrets, an awful pity  
You must sacrifice a city  
For to win the Ruby Throne by laissez-faire!  
[back to interplay]: Now...

OCATO: All I can do is to hold the realm together -

VIENNE: Help him now...

OCATO: If one thread moves out of place then we'll be splitting at the seams -

VIENNE: Help us now...

OCATO: Though one must admire your courage -  
It's all well and good at your age -

VIENNE: Now...

OCATO: There's grave consequence to governance by dreams!

VIENNE [having mustered herself]: You're a fool, to wish to govern o'er a dying Tamriel  
Beset by Gates,  
To want the blame -  
But your character's so wretched, only flaws support your name.  
For I must make one concession:  
You hold tight to your possessions,  
And that's why I do not kill you on the spot.  
But we will  
See victory's bounties  
Once I've gone  
Before the counties...  
After Cheydinhal,  
You can't well stop them!

[She stalks out the door of the palace.]

OCATO: ...What?

**Author's Note:**

> And afterward she goes straight to Cloud Ruler Temple to inform Baurus she may have made a terrible mistake, but the explanation dwindles down to "maybe you had to be there."


End file.
